Be Careful What You Witch For (A Family Fortune Mystery) (15 page)

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive home?” Dad asked.

“It’s only a few blocks, Dad, I can make it.”

Alex, Seth, the dogs, and I moved toward the front door. Mom waved good-bye but Vi was already mumbling about pendulums and tarot cards and didn’t seem to notice when we left.

24

The early morning sun slanted through the trees as we trudged out to the site of the Halloween ceremony. Normally, I loved walking in the woods this time of year, the smell of old leaves and a distant wood fire mixing with nostalgia would leave me feeling relaxed and content. Not this time.

I wished for a moment that I had brought my guns. Target shooting always helped clear my mind, but I kept them at the local shooting range now, locked up. It wouldn’t be safe with the dogs along, anyway. After last summer, neither one tolerated the sound of a gunshot.

The dogs had no pressing concerns about murder or friends in prison and bounded happily through the leaves, exploring all the scents of the forest. Seth dragged his feet to punctuate how very exhausted he was from getting up before ten. Once we were a good distance from the road, we unclipped the leashes to let the dogs explore without pulling us along.

Seth trailed after me into the forest as I tried to find the path that led to the small clearing where Diana had set up the ceremony. That night I’d followed her without really paying attention and she’d set up helpful lanterns along the way for the attendees to follow.

After about ten minutes of trying to find the clearing and keep track of the dogs, I stopped to get my bearings.

“I thought you knew where you were going,” Seth grumbled.

“I
do,
” I said. “Just give me a second.” I held up my hand.

I mentally retraced our steps from the road and tried to remember which way we had turned that night as we followed Rafe’s body out of the woods.

“It should be right up here past those two big trees,” I said and led the way forward. Baxter sensed my direction and ran ahead like a canine bodyguard securing the area.

He gave a short bark and I heard him crunching among the leaves. We finally came upon the clearing. The area where the bonfire had been was still obvious. Diana had been careful to clear a space for the fire and she’d surrounded it with rocks. Charred logs remained in the center. It had been almost a week since that night. The last leaves had fallen from the twisting branches overhead and the rain from a couple days ago had soaked everything. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and didn’t even know if the police had already been out to the area.

According to Tom, Lucan had cleaned up that night. He’d willingly turned over the trash bags to the police, but in view of our new suspicions, I wondered how useful any of that evidence would be.

Seth found a sodden napkin and a plastic fork underneath a tree. I found a lump of black wax with a burned wick. We put them in a plastic bag. Otherwise, Lucan had done a pretty good job of erasing all traces of everything that happened out here. I walked the perimeter of the clearing trying to remember where everyone had been standing.

Baxter rushed out of the trees with something in his mouth.

“Seth, what does he have?” I hoped it wasn’t a dead bird.

“Come here, boy, let’s see it,” Seth said.

Baxter trotted over to Seth and dropped the thing at his feet. I was always amazed at the way Seth could get the dogs to do whatever he wanted. That was another thing to follow up on and worry about. Seth bent to pick up Baxter’s find. It was bright orange and not quite round.

“It’s an old rotten orange,” Seth said, holding it up for me to see. He got ready to toss it back into the trees.

“Wait, don’t throw it,” I said. “He’ll just chase it again. Put it in here.” I held out the bag and he added it to the ball of wax, the fork, and the napkin.

I gave Baxter a treat for bringing us a nasty old orange and one to Tuffy for moral support. Another ten minutes in the clearing yielded only more trash. I turned to tell Seth we should finish up.

He was kneeling on the ground in the area that I remembered the robes had been piled. He stood and turned to me, cupping something in his hand. I walked to him to see what he had found.

“Look at this.” He held his hand out to me.

In it was a small silver disk. It looked like flower petals around a green stone. A silver six-pointed star was embossed into the stone. A cold shiver ran up my spine. I had a charm just like this. It was on my chakra bracelet that Diana had given me and I never wore. I had seen a bracelet just like it on Morgan Lavelle’s wrist.

I tried to recall the scene in my mind. She’d worn scary skull earrings and multiple necklaces. She’d crossed her arms and I saw the charm bracelet. Was a charm missing?

“What is it?” Seth asked.

“It might be Dylan’s ticket out of jail,” I said. “Great job, Seth. We better head back before Papa gets to the house.” Seth nodded and we walked back out of the woods with the dogs, a bag of trash, and a new plan to help Dylan and Diana.

*   *   *

Dad arrived just
as we pulled into the driveway. He climbed out of his ancient Buick with his tool kit and a thermos. He’d promised to come over and inspect the alarm system, to be sure it was still working after the kitchen fire and the multiple attempts to shut off the alarm with a broom handle. The thermos accompanied him on all repair jobs, even if he was in his own house. I often wondered what he kept in there.

Once inside, Dad succumbed to the exuberant greeting of the dogs, who had forgotten that they’d just seen him last night. Baxter inspected Dad’s pockets for treats while Tuffy leaped straight in the air in his greeting ritual. Seth raised one hand and let it drop and shuffled toward the kitchen. The dogs trailed behind expectantly.

“How’s it going at the house?” I asked.

Dad raised his shoulders and shook his head. “You know how it is. Tarot cards, pendulums, dire predictions. Vi’s making a list of any animals that might know Lucan. The usual.”

“You want to hang out here for a while?”

“They’re talking about following Lucan around town to see if he does anything suspicious,” Dad said. “It might take me quite a while to fix your alarm.” He winked.

“Have at it. Take as long as you need,” I said.

Dad grinned. I smiled back but was worried. The last time Vi followed anyone we almost got arrested.

*   *   *

After a thorough
inspection of the alarm system, Dad and I discussed Mom and Vi while Seth tapped away on his laptop. He claimed he was doing homework but he seemed too happy, and the typing was ripping along at a social-media pace rather than a boring-essay pace. If he stayed much longer, I figured I’d have to get involved in policing his homework situation. Grace had convinced his school to forward three weeks’ worth of homework. That would get us to Thanksgiving break. I hoped it wouldn’t take that long to figure out what was going on with him and to come up with a long-term plan that didn’t include the boy and the dog showing up on my front porch without notice.

Dad was just getting wound up for a good Vi vent when my phone vibrated. I had set the text-from-Vi alert to the unmistakable
Twilight Zone
theme. All three of us watched the phone buzz on the table and I realized they were waiting for me to answer it. I clicked open the screen and was greeted by a blurry photo of Lucan getting into his truck. Another picture rapidly followed of the pickup pulling away from the curb, then an even fuzzier image of the vehicle on the road. I could only assume that Vi and Mom were in pursuit. I groaned and handed the phone to my dad. He stabbed at it with his index finger and handed it to Seth, who showed him the pictures.

The phone buzzed again. Seth held it up for me to see.

we r in pursuit
.
stnd by

I put my head in my hands and hoped Lucan wouldn’t call the police about the erratic orange smart car that was tailing him through his day.

I took the phone from Seth and dialed Vi’s number.

“What are you doing?” I said when she answered.

“Didn’t you get my texts? These phones are so slow. I sent you pictures.”

“I know. I got them. What are you doing?”

“We’re tailing Lucan, what do you think?”

“Vi, you can’t just go around following the citizens of Crystal Haven. Mac is not going to be so lenient this time.”

“Mac will never know. I’ve been reading up on techniques. We’re staying well back from him, and blending into traffic. He won’t even notice.”

I doubted that. There wasn’t nearly enough traffic in Crystal Haven, or Detroit for that matter, to hide two little old ladies in an orange smart car.

“Vi, tell Mom to turn around and you can come here.” Dad’s eyebrows shot up and he started shaking his head violently. I turned away from him and said, “We’ll talk about it and come up with a plan.”

“What? I can’t hear you—you’re breaking up.”
Click
. Vi had used my own tactics against me.

“Are they coming?” Dad asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. They had better not cause too much trouble.”

I was treated over the next couple of hours to pictures of Lucan going into the grocery store, filling up his car at the gas station, and getting lunch at Everyday Grill. The only interesting shot was of Lucan going into the police station.

Dad had finished with the alarm system and began checking out the plumbing. He seemed to have a checklist of things to do in the house that he’d never gotten around to when we’d lived there while I was a kid. Vi’s warning echoed in my mind, but as with many things Vi says, I ignored it. Seth moved on to some sort of explosion-y game on his computer.

I called Rupert and tried to get information on Diana. Straight to voice mail. I hoped that meant he was busy getting her out of prison.

It was midafternoon when the urgent summons arrived on my phone.

25

Vi had texted that I should come immediately, but stealthily, to Message Circle. Seth and I left the dogs with Dad and jumped in the Jeep. I wanted to ensure no one got arrested. Seth seemed most interested in perfecting his surveillance skills. I spotted Mom’s orange car from the road and drove into the lot to park. There was a truck there—a Ford pickup—I recognized it from the photos as Lucan’s. Mom and Vi were absent. I sent a “where are you” text and waited.

halfway to mc
.
come quietly

I showed my phone to Seth and we set off down the path toward Message Circle. The circle would be quiet this time of year. Outdoor gatherings for messages ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We were partway there when I heard hissing coming from the woods to the right of the path. The city had planted burning bushes and other shrubbery along the walkway and I spotted Vi and Mom crouched behind one clump that hadn’t lost all of its leaves yet. Message Circle was just past the turn in the path. I walked to Mom and Vi and bent over the bush.

Vi squatted like a duck and slowly lifted her head over the bush to watch the path. Mom sat on the ground, knees to her chest, shivering, and casting mutinous glances at Vi.

“We need to spread out and keep an eye on him,” Vi whispered. “When I sent you the message I thought he was heading back to the scene of the crime. But then he went to Message Circle instead.”

Mom sighed.

“Do you think he’s Wiccan
and
a psychic?” Vi asked.

I shrugged and walked away from them farther down the path to stand behind a large evergreen. Seth followed and we both peeked around the tree. Feeling ridiculous, I pulled out my small binoculars. Lucan was sitting in the back row of the seating area, staring into space. I turned back toward Vi in time to see her crouched and moving quickly through the spindly tree trunks to another evergreen tree. Mom followed, standing straight and walking at a normal pace. Vi gestured at her to hurry up. Seth breathed heavily in my ear as he looked around the tree at Message Circle. I stepped away from him and handed him the glasses.

Squinting and huffing while trying to adjust the binocs and find Lucan at the same time, he didn’t notice another figure enter the area from the opposite side. She must have come from the stone bridge which was farther into the woods and near a different parking lot. I hated to admit it, but Vi was right this time.
This
was interesting.

I pulled on Seth’s sleeve and pointed him in the right direction. His eyebrows popped up over the eyepieces of the glasses. He lowered the binoculars and turned to me. I shrugged and glanced across the path to see Vi waving at us and pointing. Just then, my phone buzzed.

see, I told you

I nodded at Vi and gave her a thumbs-up. I didn’t want to move any closer. If it had been Seth and me, or even Mom and Vi we could have explained to them that we just happened upon them. But all four of us?

We weren’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but Skye’s head was so close to Lucan’s, I didn’t think we’d be able to hear them even if we were sitting in the open. Then Skye pulled away from Lucan and said, “No! Of course not.”

Lucan murmured in response and Skye started to cry.

Vi’s helpful text arrived.

looks suspicious

Skye’s head was down with her forehead pressed into his chest. Lucan had one arm around her. I didn’t like the way this looked.

“Whoa, that’s just not right,” Seth said in my ear.

Suddenly, Skye pushed away from Lucan and ran into the woods toward the bridge. Lucan hopped up and followed her, but more slowly.

I heard him shout, “Skye, wait!”

I thought this was the perfect time to get out of the woods. Neither one of them would be pleased if they caught us here. I was just about to signal Vi to head back to the parking lot when I saw another figure step into the circle. It was Bea. She looked down the path. She held a camera in one hand, and checked her watch. Then she walked down the path, following Lucan and Skye.

“So? What do you think?” Vi asked as Seth and I approached.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. They could have had a very good reason to meet here.”

“Why was her mother following her?” Seth asked. “The whole thing is sketchy.”

We walked back toward the parking lot. I set a rapid pace, worried that Lucan would return to his truck and find us all milling about.

Seth checked his phone as we got into the car.

“Can I go with Skye and Faith to the Big Buy?”

“Skye and Faith? What are you talking about?”

“Faith says they’re going to the Big Buy in Bailey Harbor. They’ll come pick me up.”

“Okay. Maybe you can find out what Skye was doing with Lucan.”

Seth looked out the window and shrugged.

“When are they coming to get you?”

He checked his phone.

“In about ten minutes.”

I pulled onto Singapore Highway and turned the Jeep toward home.

*   *   *

After Seth left
with the Paxton girls, I pulled out my laptop. Skye had sent the promised genealogy information. According to her notes, Neila Whittle had just as long a pedigree as Rafe’s adoptive family. I wasn’t sure how Skye had unearthed all the information but her family-tree diagrams had all sorts of notes beyond just the births, marriages, deaths. Broken lines, squiggly lines, double and triple lines all connected different members of the family. Plus she had found anecdotes about different branches of the tree. It made for fascinating reading but nothing jumped out at me that would help with the problem at hand.

Dad had moved to the upstairs bathroom and was clanking away on the pipes. I decided it would be a good time to get out of the house. Feeling uncertain that the building would still be standing when I came home, I patted the front door in a reassuring fashion and hopped into my Jeep.

I drove slowly down Main Street toward the police station searching for either Mac or his car. I wanted to talk to Lisa Harkness, the receptionist, without Mac’s interference. After parking down the street near Alex’s restaurant, I walked against the wind toward the police station. The streets of Crystal Haven were less hospitable this time of year. The festive flags that flapped in the summer breeze had been put away, the pumpkins and scarecrows that welcomed shoppers just before Halloween were looking sad and beyond their sell-by date. The holiday lights had not yet been turned on, so it was a gray and blustery trek through town.

I poked my head in the door of the station and waved to Lisa. “Is Mac here?”

She shook her head. “You just missed him. He didn’t say where he was going—I might be able to catch him if it’s urgent.” She reached for the telephone as I stepped in the door.

“No! I mean, that’s okay. I’ll catch up with him later. How’s it going around here?”

Lisa crossed her arms. “I can’t tell you anything about Diana or Dylan.”

I regarded her carefully and switched tactics.

“Oh, I didn’t mean the Rafe Godwin case. Just wondering how things are going for you. How are the kids?” I gestured toward the photo on her desk.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but her kids were still young enough that she always had something she wanted to report about them.

I patiently listened to the litany of funny things the two-year-old was trying to say and the clever things the four-year-old was able to do. I laughed in all the right places and admired the newest pictures. This seemed to melt the frostiness she had exhibited initially. I didn’t blame her for her cool reception. Over the summer she’d gotten an earful from Mac about gossiping and the need for discretion in her job as receptionist at the police station.

She bit her lower lip and took a deep breath.

“You might want to talk to Tom if you’re wondering about Diana. He’s down the street at Millie’s again.”

Sighing inwardly, I realized I was glad I didn’t have Tom’s job. So much of it must consist of breaking up the same arguments and warning the same people to behave. Police work had turned out to be less exciting than I’d imagined. It consisted of piles of paperwork, dealing with rude and grumpy people, and the random injection of pure terror to mix it up.

I nodded to Lisa and strolled casually out of the police station. As soon as the door swung shut behind me I power walked down the street and around the corner to Millie’s Book Nook. The last time I had found Tom there he was trying to avoid arresting Howard for vagrancy. Howard was Millie’s husband and that time he’d fallen asleep in her comfy reading area. She’d called the station and insisted they send someone over to deal with the “good-for-nothing bum.”

This time there was no crowd gathered on the sidewalk outside. Millie didn’t seem to be shouting at Tom or Howard. This made me more anxious than a scene in front of the store.

“I want a restraining order!” Millie said as I pulled the door shut against the wind.

“I can’t do that, Mrs. Fessler.” Tom had his hands out and barely kept the frustration out of his voice. “Only a judge can do that and then only if there is a real threat.”

“Of course there’s a real threat. She’s crazy and she’s after my husband!”

Howard sat behind the counter, shoulders slumped, looking like he’d prefer to be anywhere else.

“Hi, Mrs. Fessler,” I said.

Millie wheeled around on her orthopedic shoes and took a deep breath, probably to start another tirade. Then her face broke into a smile.

“Clytemnestra! I haven’t seen you since the summer. Why don’t you ever come to visit?”

“I’ve been kind of busy with the festival, Mrs. Fessler.”

“Well, you’re never too busy for a good book. You just take your time, dear, and pick out a good one.” She waved her arm toward the fiction section and spun around again to face Tom.

Tom shot a pleading glance in my direction. Howard had perked up and his eyes sparked with excitement. He must have been expecting me to talk her down again.

“Why do you need a restraining order?” I asked, ignoring her directions and walking over to stand near her.

Millie put her hands on her hips. “That
woman
has been bothering my husband. She trespassed in my store and I want it stopped.”

I looked to Tom for an explanation.

“Mrs. Fessler thinks—”

“No, I
know
.”

“Mrs. Fessler is worried that Neila Whittle is ‘after’ Howard here,” Tom said.

I knew Neila had a reputation as a witch and that the kids in town were half afraid and half fascinated by her, but was surprised that Millie had an issue with her.

“Neila Whittle?” I said.

“The witch that lives in the woods,” Millie said. “She was here yesterday and I want it stopped.”

“Maybe she needed a book,” I said.

Millie shook her head.

“No, she waited for me to leave to bring my bank deposit down the street and then she slipped in here to talk to my Howard.” At this, she cast a look that combined adoration and menace in almost equal measure.

“She didn’t—” Howard began.

“Fortunately, I had forgotten the deposit slip on the counter and when I came back in to get it, I caught them in the act.”

My stomach dropped at the thought of Neila and Howard in the act of anything together.

“We were just talking. I haven’t seen her in years,” Howard said.

Millie made a disgusted noise. “I don’t blame you, dear. I know she’s a witch and probably put a spell on you or something.” She turned toward Tom. “Is there a restraining order for spells? Because I want one of those, too.”

“Mrs. Fessler, have you asked Howard what they were talking about?” I asked. “Maybe she really just wanted a book.”

We all turned to Howard, who became pink while moisture beaded on his smooth head.

“See? That’s what he does,” Millie said, pointing at Howard. “If that isn’t suspicious, I don’t know what is.”

I had to admit Howard wasn’t helping himself with the blushing and sweating.

“Mr. Fessler,” Tom said, “you don’t
have
to answer, but maybe you could tell us what you were talking about and reassure your wife it was all innocent. Then we can move on.”

Howard took a deep breath. “We didn’t talk about anything. She came in, and said hello. I said it had been a long time, and asked how she was. She said she’d been better and then Millie burst in like a lunatic, accusing her of all sorts of things.”

Millie sniffed.

“Neila barely escaped while I held Millie back.” Howard’s voice rose as he described the scene.

I felt a smile beginning and viciously suppressed it. The thought of ninety-one-year-old Millie brawling with Neila, also ancient, all over bald, pudgy Howard was actually kind of sweet.

“You can’t get a restraining order against someone for entering a business if they haven’t ever threatened or harmed anyone.” I could tell Tom was trying to keep his voice even but the aggravation crept in.

“Why do you think she came here after all this time?” I asked Howard.

He glanced at Millie and shrugged.

“She had her chance and she blew it.” Millie crossed her arms. “Now she’s after him again.”